What caused Wataru Date’s death?
Was the former squad leader murdered, or was his death really an accident?
Wataru Date was a former First Division detective who served as Wataru Takagi’s senior and field trainer. At the police academy, he belonged to the same class as Rei Furuya, Jinpei Matsuda, Kenji Hagiwara, and Hiromitsu Morofushi, and his steady leadership held those four very different personalities together.
Date died in a traffic accident after an exhausted driver fell asleep at the wheel. After an all-night stakeout, Date stepped toward the road to retrieve his dropped police notebook and was struck by the approaching vehicle. Nothing in the available story connects the crash to the Black Organization or to a criminal scheme.
This article covers Date’s death, his final scene, the notebook he entrusted to Takagi, his relationship with Natalie Kuruma, and the legacy he left with Takagi and Tooru Amuro.
Is Wataru Date Alive? His Death in a Drowsy-Driving Accident
Wataru Date is already dead in the story’s present day. His death occurred one year before the present storyline, when a vehicle whose driver had fallen asleep struck him after an all-night stakeout with Takagi.
The later stories do not reveal that Date survived. Instead, the police-academy stories, later manga flashbacks, and a movie add new scenes from his lifetime. That structure can make him feel increasingly present without reversing his death.
Struck While Retrieving His Notebook After an All-Night Stakeout
Date was hit on his way home after completing an all-night stakeout with Detective Takagi. Near morning, his police notebook fell into the roadway. When he moved to pick it up, a car driven by someone who had dozed off approached and struck him.
Date’s size, fighting ability, and dependable nature make the ordinary setting of his death especially cruel. Yumi Miyamoto had described him as the kind of tough man who seemed impossible to kill. Because that line has no registered official translation in the available quote table, this is a paraphrase rather than an official quotation.
A man who looked capable of surviving a fight with a dangerous criminal instead lost his life on a familiar road after the casework was over. The notebook he tried to recover then became the object connecting Takagi, Natalie, an unfinished investigation, and Amuro across many later chapters.
An Accidental Death, Not Murder by the Black Organization
The story presents Date’s death as a traffic accident, not a murder committed by a culprit or the Black Organization. None of the scenes discussed here suggest that the crash was planned.
Date’s connection to Rei Furuya, who also operates as Tooru Amuro, can invite suspicion about a larger conspiracy. Amuro’s later visit to Date’s grave strengthens their emotional connection, but it does not turn the accident into an Organization operation. Date was also not attacked by a criminal while carrying out police duties, so describing his end simply as an accidental traffic death is the most precise wording.
The lack of a conspiracy does not make the loss minor. Hagiwara, Matsuda, and Morofushi died in circumstances tied to bombs or undercover danger; Date’s death feels frightening precisely because the cause is so commonplace.
The Death Scene in Volumes 76-77 and Episodes 733-735
Date’s accident and its aftermath appear in Volumes 76-77 and in Episodes 733-735 (Japanese episodes 681-683), beginning with “The Life-Threatening Broadcast of Love (Begin Broadcasting)” and ending with “The Life-Threatening Broadcast of Love (Enter the Scene).”
- Volume 76, File 9
- Volume 76, File 10
- Volume 76, File 11
- Volume 77, File 1
- Volume 77, File 2
In the present-day case, Takagi is imprisoned and Conan, Miwako Sato, and the police work to rescue him. Their investigation exposes the connected tragedy of Date and Natalie. The urgency of saving Takagi is set against two people who could no longer be saved, giving the case unusual emotional weight.
Amuro’s visit to Date’s grave also expands the story beyond Takagi and Sato’s case. It quietly connects Date to the larger history of the five police-academy classmates.
The Notebook and Final Words Date Entrusted to Takagi
Immediately after the collision, Date entrusted his police notebook to Takagi. As Takagi rushed to him, Date told him that he was leaving it in his hands. An English rendering would be, “Takagi… I am leaving this with you… I am counting on you” (unofficial translation).
At first, those words appear to refer to the engagement ring inside the notebook, which Date had intended for Natalie. Volumes 101-102 later reveal that the notebook also contained a coded lead from an unfinished investigation.
It remains unclear whether Date’s final request deliberately covered both the ring and the case. The story supports only that Takagi ultimately inherited both responsibilities. Date’s private future and his unfinished police work therefore remain together in the same small object.
An Engagement Ring for Natalie Was Inside
Date’s police notebook held an engagement ring intended for his girlfriend, Natalie Kuruma. It also contained a photograph of Date and Natalie, showing how closely his professional identity and hoped-for personal future were carried together.
Takagi tried to deliver the ring after Date’s death, but another tragedy occurred before the truth reached Natalie. The ring strongly supports that Date intended to marry her, although the evidence discussed here does not establish that a formal proposal had already taken place.
The contrast is tender and painful: the imposing senior detective kept his plan for a shared future inside the notebook that represented his work. The accident prevented him from handing over the ring himself.
Volumes 101-102 Resolve the Unfinished Case Code
The notebook contained not only the ring but also numbers, symbols, and words linked to a suspicious transaction that Date and Takagi had been pursuing. The thread is resolved in Volumes 101-102 and Episodes 1167-1168 (Japanese episodes 1109-1110), titled “Takagi and Date and the Notebook Promise (Part 1)” and “Takagi and Date and the Notebook Promise (Part 2).”
The clues point toward a window-side location at Café Poirot and a transaction planned for Sunday at noon. Before the accident, Date had invited Takagi to join him that Sunday and said he would make a man of him. A rendering of that line is, “Come with me this Sunday… I will make a man out of you” (unofficial translation).
Amuro interprets the phrase as Date’s intention to let Takagi earn credit for solving the case and develop into a full-fledged detective, rather than as a romantic remark. Conan, the Detective Boys, Takagi, Sato, and Amuro follow the surviving clues to the truth. The work interrupted by Date’s accident is ultimately completed by his junior and his former classmate.
Takagi Inherited the Notebook and Date’s Will
Takagi continued using Date’s police notebook after Date died. It was more than a convenient hand-me-down: Takagi had trained under Date and personally heard his final request.
Both men share the given name Wataru, written differently in Japanese, so Date called them the “Wataru Brothers.” What began as a playful nickname gains weight after one of them is gone. Takagi keeps returning to the field with the notebook and applies what Date taught him rather than trying to replace him.
The notebook and Date’s memory help with Takagi’s rescue in the earlier case, while the later case completes Date’s unfinished investigation. His legacy is shown through Takagi’s continuing growth as a detective.
Tragedy Struck Natalie After Wataru Date’s Death
Date’s traffic accident also changed Natalie Kuruma’s life. The characters infer that, without learning of his death, she believed he had abandoned her and took her own life.
This interpretation is presented as an inference in the story, not as direct access to Natalie’s thoughts. One accident destroyed the couple’s expected future and led into a second tragedy involving her family and Takagi.
Date Intended to Marry Natalie
Date was dating Natalie Kuruma, an English-conversation instructor, and had prepared an engagement ring for her. Their relationship continued from his police-academy days, when he is shown speaking with her by phone.
The ring confirms that Date was considering marriage, but the evidence discussed here does not confirm that he had completed a formal proposal. It is therefore safer to describe Natalie as his girlfriend for whom he had prepared an engagement ring, rather than state without qualification that she was already his fiancee.
Date could be the forceful squad leader among his classmates and the demanding senior beside Takagi, yet his relationship with Natalie reveals a quieter future he hoped to build. Knowing that future was cut short makes his ordinary road accident even harder to accept.
Natalie Died Without Knowing What Happened to Date
The story strongly suggests that Natalie did not know Date had died in a traffic accident. After his contact suddenly stopped, the characters reason that she believed he had left her and then took her own life.
Natalie’s parents also died in a traffic accident while traveling to identify their daughter’s body. With those people gone, the truth behind Date and Natalie’s interrupted relationship was never properly communicated.
Ryosaku Fue, who cared deeply for Natalie, learned that a man named Wataru was connected to her death. Because Wataru Date and Wataru Takagi share that given name, Fue mistook Takagi for the man responsible, leading to the imprisonment case in “The Life-Threatening Broadcast of Love.” The same shared name that once supported a friendly nickname becomes the key to a devastating misunderstanding.
If news of Date’s death had reached Natalie, the later tragedy might have been avoided, but that remains a possibility rather than a certainty.
What Date’s Death Left with Takagi and Amuro
Takagi inherited Date’s notebook and professional example, while Rei Furuya carried the memory of a police-academy classmate. Takagi expresses that inheritance through his daily police work; Amuro’s connection appears through the grave visit, help with the notebook case, and a small visual echo of Date.
Takagi’s Trainer and the “Wataru Brothers”
Date was Takagi’s senior detective and trainer. He pushed his junior hard in the field, but he also tried to create an opportunity for Takagi to solve a case and receive proper credit.
For Takagi, Date was not merely an intimidating senior. He was someone who developed Takagi’s ability and expected him to become a capable detective. That relationship explains why Takagi retained the notebook and why Date’s unfinished words continue to influence his actions.
Rei Furuya Was His Police-Academy Classmate and Rival
Wataru Date and Rei Furuya were classmates at the police academy and recognized each other’s ability. When Takagi repeats a rumor that Date graduated at the top of the academy, Date rejects it and says he was always second to another student in both mind and body.
“That is a false rumor. I was always second; I could never beat him in brains or strength” (unofficial translation).
The person Date meant was Furuya. His words show respect rather than simple resentment. Date also worried that his absent friend might have overestimated his strength and died somewhere, only for Date himself to die before they could meet again.
The original scene does not immediately explain the unnamed classmate in detail. Knowledge of Amuro and the later police-academy narrative gives the earlier remarks their full emotional meaning.
Amuro Also Carried Date’s Intent Through the Notebook Case
In the Volumes 101-102 notebook case, Tooru Amuro helps interpret the investigation Date left behind. At Café Poirot, he sees the code and explains Date’s remark about making Takagi a man as a plan to help the junior detective earn a successful result.
Amuro guides Takagi with clues rather than simply handing him every answer. That restraint resembles Date’s intention to let Takagi grow through his own work.
After the case, Amuro is shown holding a toothpick in his mouth, an object strongly associated with Date. Amuro never explicitly calls the gesture a memorial. The story does not confirm that the toothpick is a memorial to Date.
Date’s Strength and Character in the Police Academy Arc
The police-academy narrative shows what Date was like before he entered the main story as a deceased detective. He combined a powerful build and fighting skill with a fixation on strength that grew from a misunderstanding about his father.
He was more than a strong brawler. His ability to manage his classmates, train a junior, and protect people provides the foundation for the senior detective remembered by Takagi.
The Squad Leader Who Held Four Classmates Together
Date served as squad leader for Rei Furuya, Jinpei Matsuda, Kenji Hagiwara, and Hiromitsu Morofushi in the Onizuka class. All four were highly capable, but their personalities and private circumstances differed sharply.
When conflict broke out, Date stepped between them and helped settle the situation. After Furuya and Matsuda fought, he treated the matter as a problem for the whole group and found a way to address their instructor. His leadership depended on reading people and acting at the right moment, not merely on physical power.
The same instinct later appears in his work with Takagi. At the academy he moved his classmates forward; in the First Division he developed a junior detective. His reputation as squad leader reflects that continuing role.
Learning the Truth About His Father Changed His View of Strength
Date’s obsession with strength began with a mistaken judgment about his father, who had been a police officer. As a child, Date saw his father comply with a convenience-store robber and concluded that he was weak.
Date consequently tried to become stronger than anyone else. During academy training, he criticized Furuya for refusing to target Date’s injured leg. His words can be rendered as, “You can talk about subduing someone without injury only after you have subdued them” and “Without being stronger than anyone, you cannot carry out justice” (unofficial translations).
The truth later emerges: Date’s father obeyed the robber in order to protect hostages. He had not failed to resist from weakness; he accepted humiliation because safeguarding lives required restraint. Date learns that strength can mean choosing the action that protects others, even when it wounds one’s pride.
That discovery overturns his contempt and restores respect for his father. It may also help explain the protective, patient senior Date later became, although the available story does not state that causal link outright.
The Last of the Four Deceased Classmates to Die
Among the four deceased members of Furuya’s police-academy group, Date died last.
- Kenji Hagiwara: died seven years before the present story
- Jinpei Matsuda: died three years before the present story
- Hiromitsu Morofushi: died before Date
- Wataru Date: died one year before the present story
Rei Furuya is the only one of the five alive in the present storyline. Hagiwara and Matsuda’s deaths were connected to bomb incidents, while Morofushi’s was tied to his undercover work; Date alone died in an ordinary traffic accident.
Date had worried that Furuya might already have died while taking reckless risks. Instead, Furuya was alive somewhere else and Date died before they could reunite. The brighter scenes of all five together make Furuya’s present isolation feel heavier.
Manga, Anime, and Movie Stories About Date’s Death and Past
Date’s death is covered in Volumes 76-77, his academy background in the police-academy story, and the notebook payoff in Volumes 101-102. Volume 107 adds an earlier encounter involving the five classmates, young Shinichi Kudo, and Ran Mouri, while a movie depicts a separate past confrontation.
- Death and final moments: Volumes 76-77; Episodes 733-735 (Japanese episodes 681-683)
- His father and academy years: “Police Academy Arc Wild Police Story CASE. Wataru Date”; Episode 1095 (Japanese episode 1038)
- The unfinished notebook case: Volumes 101-102; Episodes 1167-1168 (Japanese episodes 1109-1110)
- A past meeting with Shinichi and Ran: Volume 107
- The five classmates fighting together: Detective Conan: The Bride of Halloween, movie-only evidence
Volumes 76-77 and Episodes 733-735: His Death and Final Moments
Volumes 76-77 and Episodes 733-735 (Japanese episodes 681-683) connect Date’s accident, final request, bond with Takagi, and relationship with Natalie. The international run begins with “The Life-Threatening Broadcast of Love (Begin Broadcasting)” and concludes with “The Life-Threatening Broadcast of Love (Enter the Scene).”
The present-day imprisonment of Takagi gradually reveals the past tragedy. The shared Wataru name, Date’s traffic death, and his intended marriage to Natalie become parts of one case. Amuro’s grave visit then links that tragedy to the police-academy group.
Police Academy Arc Wild Police Story CASE. Wataru Date: His Father and Justice
“Police Academy Arc Wild Police Story CASE. Wataru Date” explains Date’s misunderstanding of his father, his training match with Furuya, his leadership, and his relationship with Natalie. Its anime adaptation is Episode 1095 (Japanese episode 1038).
The story gives Date room to be young and mistaken before becoming the reliable senior remembered in the main series. Learning why his father yielded to a robber changes his understanding of justice and strength.
Volumes 101-102 and Episodes 1167-1168: The Notebook Case
Date’s unfinished investigation concludes in Volumes 101-102 and “Takagi and Date and the Notebook Promise (Part 1)” and “Takagi and Date and the Notebook Promise (Part 2).” These are Episodes 1167-1168 (Japanese episodes 1109-1110).
A code discovered in the notebook draws Takagi and Amuro into the investigation at Café Poirot. Conan, the Detective Boys, Sato, and the others help trace Date’s surviving clues. Even in his absence, Date remains central because his notes initiate and shape the solution.
Volume 107: A Newly Revealed Meeting in the Past
Volume 107, Files 1-3 reveal that young Shinichi Kudo and Ran Mouri once encountered the five police-academy classmates. Furuya, Matsuda, Hagiwara, Morofushi, and Date happened to be present during a case involving the two children.
This flashback does not change Date’s death or its timing. It adds another episode from the period when all five were alive. In other words, the manga expands his past rather than restoring him to the present.
As of July 20, 2026, this Volume 107 story had not received a television anime adaptation.
Detective Conan: The Bride of Halloween: Date and His Police-Academy Friends
Detective Conan: The Bride of Halloween depicts an earlier confrontation with Plamya involving Furuya, Matsuda, Morofushi, and Date. Hagiwara had already died by the time of that three-years-earlier case.
Date again acts as a dependable leader while the group responds to the danger. Their easy banter and coordinated action emphasize how much Furuya has lost by the present day.
The movie does not alter the manga and anime account of Date’s traffic accident. Its events should be treated as movie-only evidence that supplements his characterization, not as proof of a different canon outcome. Within the film coverage discussed here, the 2026 movie introduced no change to his life status or cause of death.
Summary
Wataru Date died after a drowsy driver struck him while he was retrieving his police notebook from the road. The available story gives no indication that the Black Organization or another criminal arranged the crash.
That ordinary cause makes the death especially harsh for a man remembered as unusually tough and dependable. Inside the notebook were an engagement ring Date never gave Natalie and clues from an investigation he never completed.
Takagi inherits the notebook, Date’s training, and responsibility for the unfinished case. Amuro helps interpret Date’s clues as a former classmate, while his grave visit and toothpick gesture keep their personal connection in view. The toothpick may evoke Date, but the story does not explicitly define it as a memorial.
Date does not return alive in the present storyline, but later academy stories, flashbacks, and the movie continue to reveal who he was before the accident. His life remains unfinished, yet his choices still move Takagi and Furuya’s stories forward.
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